The Magic of Belonging

Chapters

The Unaccustomed Advent
Lingering Dreams
Fame and Insecurity
Nostalgia and Pain

The Unaccustomed Advent

My Little Pony: The Magic of Belonging

By: Angelpony723

Ch1: The Unaccustomed Advent

On a nice, cloudy day with a nice gentle breeze around the outskirts of Ponyville, a lofty wooden tree house stood tall, yet lifeless for most of the day. The refined wooden home at times served as a clubhouse for three particular fillies; young female ponies that were on a ‘crusade’ to find their own talents in life, otherwise known as a cutie mark where that talent takes the form of a symbol on their body. Their crusades often cause a lot of trouble for other ponies or get themselves in a mess, therefore were always unsuccessful no matter where they went, but the three fillies never stopped and gave up in their determination. This is what made them valuable friends to one another and always had fun along the way.

Today, the three fillies were on their way along the path outside of Ponyville after a morning full of crusading, feeling slightly exhausted during their trek back. The dark orange one with a scruffy purple mane and small wings was on her prized scooter riding alongside her two friends slowly. “Well that didn’t go well as planned! Forget being cutie mark hoofballers, we can barely work as a team since Sweetie Belle here can’t even pass a ball right.” She retorted.

The white unicorn with a purple and pinkish mane gave a disappointed look, “Look I’m sorry Scootaloo, I didn’t think such a sport would be so hard.”

The yellow filly with a red mane and bow on her head sighed as they were in sight of the clubhouse. “Well may as well go back to the drawing board, no use fighting over it and-“

“Whoooooooooa!!!!!” Screamed a voice followed by a sudden crash that startled the crusaders.

Applebloom was cut off in midsentence as the three fillies jumped in surprise from the loud noise they heard. “What in tarnation was that?!” Applebloom shouted as they heard the loud noise that came from their clubhouse.

“Look the roof!” Sweetie added pointing with her hoof where there was a large hole in the roof of the clubhouse.

Scootaloo went ahead quickly on her scooter, jumping off of it after stopping abruptly to land on the porch. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom followed behind her anxious to find out what happened. They saw a dust cloud in the middle of the room along with some broken wooden pieces near the corners of the room. The three fillies were nervous, yet upset as they saw the hole in the roof as well wanting to know who caused this.

As the dust cleared, a figure in the shape of another pony started to come into view. Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle gasped seeing an unconscious Pegasus colt they have never seen before at all. “Who…is this? And why did he wreak the roof of our clubhouse?” Sweetie Belle shyly says stepping a little closer followed by the other two, who circled around him to examine.

The Pegasus stallion’s green medium-sized wings were ruffled from the crash on the floor; his coat was green with red stripes all around the body, hooves, and face. Lastly, both his brighter green mane and tail was short, bushy, yet a mess. The size and shape of him seemed middle aged, yet still a little young and looked a little stronger than the average pony. He laid there almost lifeless, but the three fillies could feel the warmth from his body. What caught Scootaloo’s attention was there was no symbol at his flank area either, making her gasp. “Oh my gosh! He’s a blank flank too!” she said surprised, disregarding that part of their clubhouse is now in a state of repair.

“Where did he come from anyway?” Applebloom asked as she looked at the hole in the ceiling that ironically looked like the pegasus that laid there before them.

After another moment, the Pegasus started to stir while Sweetie Belle looked at one of his eyes closely. “Is he ok?” she wonders as suddenly his eye flashed right open making her jump away yelping.

The pegasus struggled to get up as he groaned from the pain induced on him from the fall and got up slowly. He shook his head as he felt dizzy and then he observes his surroundings. “Oh…my head” he says as he tries to compose himself noticing the three curious looking ponies in front of him.

“Where…am I?” he asks seeing he was in quite a strange place talking to unfamiliar figures in front of him.

Scootaloo walked forward confused “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head too hard?” she starts. “You’re just outside of Ponyville in our clubhouse, that you just so happened to drop. Were you trying to do a flying trick or something?” she sternly added.

“What? Ponyville?” the mysterious pegasus asks back trying to figure out his current situation as he then realizes he was definitely in an unfamiliar place. “So I was brought here…I don’t remember what happened…was I chased here?” he spaced out a little.

Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had no idea who they were talking to. While they observed this pegasus, it was clear to them that he was confused. The three fillies, especially Scootaloo, disregarded that part of their roof needed fixing and just wanted to know who this pegasus was. The only reason they didn’t throw him straight out of the clubhouse was because for a pegasus his age, it was quite rare see someone like him with a blank flank.

“Hellooooo! Earth to weird zebra pegasus?” Scootaloo said waving a hoof in front of his eyes.

“Scootaloo, don’t be rude! And he’s not a zebra, even if his stripes may seem that way.” Applebloom protested as she immediately apologised to the pegasus afterwards.

He came back out of his thoughts and tried to walk around a little, shortly realizing he was even struggling to do that and fell flat on his face. He blushed in embarrassment as he got back up immediately to see the three fillies even more confused and felt like he had to start a conversation. “Who are you three anyways?” he asks with a lack of questions as his mind was in a tailspin.

Sweetie Belle spoke up with a bit of pride in her voice, “We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, scouring Equestria to find our special talent in the shape of a cutie mark. I’m Sweetie Belle, and this is Applebloom and Scootaloo.” She added pointing to the other too with her hoof.

“That’s right. We were on our way back to think up another plan and then you showed up in our clubhouse…through the roof.” Applebloom added pausing as she was still baffled on how a middle aged pegasus fell through their ceiling.

The male pegasus looked up blushing more in embarrassment yet curious to the shape of the hole in the roof. He also understood Sweetie Belle’s words as it meant perhaps a symbol of purpose engraved on them. In his mind he was familiar with the concept as he thought, “So it must be like the symbol I had before perhaps, but different. So this place must be Equestria, a land full of...”

He suddenly looks back down realizing he was at a fault, worried as he did not want to make a bad first impression. He was breathing a little heavily as he slightly bows down to them apologetically saying, “Oh! I’m so sorry, I guess I forgotten how to fly for a moment. I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

Scootaloo gave an odd look examining his wings and thought of an idea. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure Applebloom will fix it later, and there might be something you could help us with, but first, what’s your name?” she asked casually with a grin on her face as she was a little excited to meet another pegasus without a cutie mark.

The words reached the pegasus’ ears like a ton of bricks as he felt somewhat hesitant over the subject. “My name?” He said shyly feeling uncertain for a moment.

“Yes, your name, or did you forget that as well, is that the reason you don’t have a cutie mark either?” Scootaloo pried.

“Scootaloo!” Applebloom protested.

“My name…is Austin Angelus…but you can call me Austin.” The pegasus then answered as he felt there was no harm done by saying his name for the most part to the three fillies.

Curious enough, the name had a strange weight to the three fillies, but Scootaloo wanted to know more. “Austin huh…quite a strange name, but It’s alright, but what’s a Pegasus like you doing here, not to mention not have a cutie mark?”

Austin somewhat blushed again in embarrassment, but not so much seeing the three fillies before him didn’t have any either. He looked around his body and realizes he looked like a pony as well and sees his green wings curiously. He tried flapping them a little to test them, but grunted in pain as he still felt sprained from the fall. Being in the shape of a pony felt completely foreign to him, the only thing that felt familiar to him was the ability to fly. “I don’t know…I guess I just don’t. I hope that isn’t a bad thing…” he shook a little nervously as he had no idea what the possible taboos of this place are.

Scootaloo looked back to Applebloom who came up to Austin, “Of course not, that means you have a lot of potential. We are looking for ours too and that’s why we are crusading, and good friends.” she said with a smile.

Austin sighed in relief and spent another moment walking around the Clubhouse, looking outside smelling the fresh scent of apples, looking up as he found himself in a tree house nested at some branches of a tall apple tree.

“Friends…that’s good.” he nodded, glad for the three fillies as he took a look at his own front hooves.

Austin then turned around to face the crusaders again with a curious look in his eyes, “I sure would like to help if it makes up for the crash. What is it you want me to do?” he asks trying to be casual now after he brushed his own mane with a hoof.

The three fillies looked at each other and Applebloom nodded as she looks onto Austin , “Well we were thinking of perhaps continuing our crusading towards the Everfree Forest, and inside perhaps find some ingredients for Zecora, the zebra, to make up for some ingredients we took for making a potion that did not work out to well.” Applebloom said with a sly grin on her face.

"I figure these girls get themselves into trouble from time to time…I may as well keep an eye on them while I gather some information of this place.” Austin thought to himself pondering towards the entrance.

“Are you sure Applebloom? I am still not used to going into that place…” Sweetie Belle shook herself adjusting her mane from being frazzled from the thought.

“What are you, scared? We have been there loads of time Sweetie.” Scootaloo said bluntly.

“Hey!” Sweetie retorted as she saw Austin just on his way out of the club house.

He took a glance back at the other three as he stood at the entrance. “Sure, I reckon you would like my supervision since the place sounds kind of dangerous from what I can collect here.”

The three fillies followed him outside as Scootaloo bounced ahead, “Oh it’s not that bad, however it doesn’t hurt if somepony like you could come along with us. Please follow us this way.”

“At least they didn’t ask me for directions…” Austin thought as he followed the three fillies, taking in the gentle breeze outside as they passed through a field of apple trees along a pathway.

On the way to the Everfree Forest, Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged pleasantries to Austin briefly explaining a little bit about them; however Austin did not understand any of it, but could collect quite a number of things they said. They sure had high hopes of getting their cutie marks, a little bit about Ponyville, Applebloom meaning well to her sister, the same for Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo looking up to her Idol, somepony named Rainbow Dash. Austin was unfamiliar to all of this, but took each comment the young fillies spilled on him casually taking in some of the information they had to offer and walked on, taking in the sights.

After a few more minutes still bright in the day, they passed a lustrous looking cottage near a thick forest in the distance. The fillies explained to him that it belonged to somepony named Fluttershy, saying they spent a few sleep overs there for fun when Austin asked. He was happy knowing that such young girls like these could be unique friends.

From what they could gather, Fluttershy did not seem to be home right now so the four of them walked towards the entrance to the Everfree Forest. Scootaloo walking along side Austin kept starting at him and his wings on multiple occasions, wondering why he didn’t try to fly. It was also curious to her that he did not have a cutie mark for somepony his age. “By the way Austin, where did you say you came from? You’re not from Cloudsdale are you?” She asked.

Austin winced knowing that the question had to be asked of him sooner or later if not multiple times. He struggled to think of an answer, but was pondering over this on the way. He was not one to make excuses, but he certainly did not want to lie either. “No sorry, I uhh…come from somewhere far away outside of Ponyville. I just came here to visit for a while and I kind of screwed up on an aerial trick with my eyes closed.” He said nervously as he had some sincerity in his voice.

Scootaloo however was a little unconvinced and was about to ask more questions, but Applebloom nudged her with a hoof implying to stop prying on Austin seeing him looking troubled. They trekked into the large forest along the path, seeing the dense thick forest with plants that looked very unfamiliar to him as he and the others stayed clear of them.

As they walked deeper, Austin felt a chill down his spine the deeper he went as the forest gave an unsettling feeling. The Cutie Mark Crusaders told him to stay clear of odd looking blue plants called Poison Joke, and also mentioned they were looking for a certain flower that thrives in certain areas of the forest typically down a large ravine. They described the flower would look dark green with a hint of brown spots on it, and had a name that none of them could pronounce, so they called it the Spotted Ditch Flower.

It felt as if a couple hours have passed as the sun was starting to set, seeing the sky turning orange. The sounds of life started to stir as Austin flicked away some bush leaves as the path became narrower, and the tree cover started to thicken more and more. The trees started to get taller and more aged as the bark was thicker and darker coloured. “Getting quite crowded in here…you sure we’re going the right way?” he asked as he tried to keep his composure.

Applebloom and Scootaloo grunted every time they crawled under a branch or two that got in their way ahead of them. Sweetie Belle stared at Austin replying, “I’m sure we are close by now, Zecora said they were this far into the forest away from any monsters or anything else dangerous.”

“Is that so…” Austin says as he looks around hearing more of creepy sounds, yet sounded quite a distance away, and as he looked up, he started to notice some thick green vines that stretched across a canopy of tall trees.

After a few more minutes passed while the four of them argued through another canopy of thick bushes, they were starting to see a clearing as it slowly came into view. Austin looks at her a little worried, “Hey don’t get so far ahead Scootaloo. I don’t want to lose you.”

Scootaloo, acting hastily trying to get ahead as she could not stand being inside of the bushes. “Relax; I think I can see a –Whooooa!” She was cut off as Austin saw the front of Scootaloo’s body kneel over.

Scootaloo’s wings were flapping violently and Austin could hear her front hooves sliding on something rough. The shout caused Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to gasp worried for their friend’s safety. Austin reacted quickly as he leapt forward, grabbing one of her hind legs with both of his front hooves, struggling to do so as he felt unfamiliar using hooves. His face was on one side of her flank, grunting as he gritted his teeth as part of his mane was in front of one of his eyes.

“Come on Scootaloo! I got you!” Austin stressed.

“Help me Austin! I can’t fly!” she yelled flailing her front hooves around in panic.

Austin flapped his own wings violently as well trying to lift himself up and pull Scootaloo while the other two behind Austin tried to help pulling him as well. He realizes they were hanging off a cliff that led into a large ravine, looking like a few hundred feet down and a couple dozen feet wide. On the way down, it was surrounded by other tree branches that may have come from the roots of the other trees around it. Falling down here would spell doom to almost anypony.

Slowly but surely, Austin and the other two ponies managed to pull Scootaloo up and over right back into the thick bush canopy as Austin landed on his back while Scootaloo landed onto Sweetie Belle and Applebloom sliding back a little from impact. The four ponies were gasping for air as Austin’s wings and front hooves were laid out on the ground while looking into the sky through a hole through the bushes above him.

It was starting to get dark he realized as he looked back to Scootaloo, getting up before the other two, looking embarrassed, yet surprised at the same time. “Are you alright Scoots?” Austin asked breathing heavily.

Applebloom got up and prodded Scootaloo and looked upset with a worried look on her face, “Darn it Scootaloo! We told you not to get far ahead and look what almost happened to you!”

Scootaloo blushed and was at a loss for words. She could not contemplate and was surprised she was saved from the possible doom that could have befallen her. Knowing she deserved a tongue lashing after that near horrific event, she turned to Austin with lack of proper words to express her gratitude, “Sorry Austin…I should of listened to you. Also thank you very much for saving me. I wouldn’t know what to do without you here with us.”

Sweetie Belle got up with Applebloom shaking the dirt off their manes as they both said their own gratitude as well. Austin got up staring at the three fillies. “Well it would definitely be bad if the Cutie Mark Crusaders got disbanded this early. Aside from that, I’m just glad you’re safe Scootaloo.” He says trying to lighten the mood a little.

“A-anyways I think we found what we were looking for I believe.” Scootaloo remarked as she slowly pushed through the bushes to look over the ravine trying to be more careful this time.

Austin and the others followed to examine the area, noticing the ravine best fit the description the crusaders gave when talking about the location of the Spotted Ditch Flower. The four ponies were well hidden in the bushes in case anything unfriendly decided to pass by as they realize it was getting darker inside the forest, too dark to see far dawn into the ravine. The surroundings consisted of more overhead vines and other trees that covered the majority leaving almost no room for light to shine in from the sky.

“Is there a way down aside from flying? Because I doubt we would be sent here if it wasn’t accessible to you three.” Austin asked in speculation.

“There is a pathway down somewhere; we just have to find it. It should be farther that way.” Sweetie Belle replied pointing her hoof in the direction in front of them towards a path on one side of the ravine.

The air was getting colder bringing a shiver down Austin’s spine while the feeling at the same time felt mysteriously nostalgic as the air brushes along his face. Unsure if the feeling was either positive or negative, he looked back at the crusaders spreading his wings nervously, as he wasn’t sure if he would be able to fly. “I could try flying down there for you three and try finding the flowers there seeing as there’s no other way down from this location.” He offered.

Just as Applebloom was about to answer, she jumped as they heard a voice not too far off from here. They hid in the bushes to try and listen where the voice was coming from and what it was saying. “What do you think it could be?” asked Sweetie Belle whispering.

“I don’t know, but keep your voices down so we can see who it is.” Austin replied whispering as well.

For a moment, the voice became louder and clearer until the point where the Cutie Mark Crusaders flinched as the words started to sound like their names. In the distance on one side of the ravine appeared three other ponies that the crusaders recognized right away. It was hard for Austin to get a good look in the dark, however he saw one of them being a purple unicorn that shone some light from her horn, another an orange earth pony with a stetson hat, and lastly a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow coloured mane and tail.

The three fillies were dumbstruck on the situation they found themselves in now. “Oh gosh, we overstayed our welcome here as the time is most likely past our bedtime! Sis is going to ground me for sure!” Applebloom panicked still trying to keep her voice down.

“See I knew we shouldn’t have taken a wrong turn too early getting us lost for another hour about half way here, if you had just listened to me!” Sweetie Belle said worried as well.

“Even Rainbow Dash is here, I certainly don’t want to be caught like this.” Scootaloo added shaking a little.

“I wonder how they knew where we were.” Austin wondered confused on the matter.

After waiting for another moment, Austin and the crusaders saw the three other ponies approaching their location. The crusaders gasped as they recognized them immediately as Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The three mares were possibly trying to find the crusaders after dark as Twilight held a map floating in front of her with her magic. “Hmm, according to this map, they should have arrived around here as Zecora said they were searching for a particular flower.” She said in a calm voice.

Twilight’s voice sounded intelligent like to Austin’s ears as he and the crusaders could see them slowly closing in near their location.

“Oh pleeeease be here sister! Y’all ought to be out here somewhere!” Applejack calls out in an odd accent Austin wasn’t familiar with.

“Look if Zecora says they will be here, I can find them in ten seconds flat!” Rainbow Dash added in her own bravado while hovering over the other two trying to look around as well.

To Rainbow Dash, despite the tone of voice Austin heard, he felt that she deep down, felt just as worried about the crusaders.

Austin wasn’t sure what to say to the crusaders except he figured this was not a favourable position to be in anymore. “Well I hate to say it, but it may be end of the line here.” He says in disappointment looking back at the three fillies.

Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo dipped their heads down a little disappointed as well, “Yeah…but sure was quite something while it lasted.” Scootaloo replied implying about their venture.

Before they could say anything else, they heard the three mares talking once again while getting even closer to them failing to notice them while speaking. “Oh come on Twilight! Just give me five seconds and I’ll find them in no time!” Rainbow Dash said starting to feel impatient as she started to fly over the ravine zooming upward.

“No Rainbow! We need to stick together since we are this far out in the forest!” Twilight called back.

Rainbow Dash turned her head to stare back at the other two mares while flying in the same direction “Geez Twilight, you have no faith in-“

“Look out sugarcube!!!” Applejack yelled as Rainbow Dash wondered what they meant as she turned her head back around, but as soon as she did, the next thing she knew her body was then entangled in vines over the ravine.

“Oh my gosh!” Rainbow Dash panicked as she struggled to get out of the overabundance of thick vines that hung from the trees over the steep drop below.

The four ponies behind the bushes were not sure how to react to this, but to Austin, he was becoming concerned as he stretched out his wings again.

“Hold on I’ll get you loose from there Rainbow.” Twilight called as she put down her map and her horn began to glow as did some of the vines Rainbow Dash was entangled in all around her body.

The vines shuffled from Twilight’s magic and Rainbow Dash struggled inside while Twilight tried her best to untangle them. “Come on please work!” she grunted.

However something seemed off as the magic from Twilight started to cause the vines wrapped around Rainbow Dash’s wings to tighten and Dash cried out in pain while this happened. “Ugh Twilight what’s going on?!” she yelled kicking her hooves about.

“I don’t know! Please don’t be the very vines Zecora warned us about in this area.” Twilight struggled with her magic sparking from her horn some more trying to get Rainbow Dash free.

“What do you mean Twi?!” Applejack asked hesitantly as she got out her rope from her saddlebag.

Twilight peered over with one of her eyes at Applejack while still casting her magic replying, “These vines are special plants that are resilient to my magic!”

As soon as she said those words, and Applejack was about to swing her lasso around, they heard a snap from above fearing the worst. The next thing they saw was the vines that supported her weight from falling down were cut loose while the ones that were strapped around her body were stuck there, causing her to plummet down into the ravine helplessly. “Ahhhhh Twilight! Applejack!” she shrilled she could not move her wings at all as she was immobilized by the tight vines.

“Hang on Rainbow!” Twilight stresses once again trying to use her levitate spell onto Dash’s body, but the vines caused a reaction in her horn that cut off the link completely after the amount of power placed on them, knocking Twilight aback onto the ground.

“Twi!” Applejack grew more worried as she attempted to spin her lasso in attempt to catch her the old fashioned way.

Rainbow Dash was already below Applejack’s position as she attempted to throw her lasso in her mouth dexterously towards her. Scootaloo could not take it anymore as the crusaders were scared as well. “Rainbow Dash!” she called out to her.

At that moment, Twilight picked herself up hearing Scootaloo’s voice “Girls?!” she called in surprise, trying to compose herself as she felt dizzy.

Applejack threw with her lasso at the same time towards Rainbow Dash, and for the one time she didn’t want to miss, the rope only grazed one of Dash’s hind legs and slipped right off.

“No Rainbow!!” Applejack cried out as she helplessly watched her close friend fall.

“This is so not cool!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed out in panic.

It was only then that Austin aside from all hesitation and doubt, he had to try to fly down there. He reared himself up and sprung himself right down the ravine spreading his wings. He stretched his front hooves out to try and balance himself and pick up speed as he felt the chilled air throughout his body.

“Go Austin! Save her!” Scootaloo yelled as she and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders also called out to him as they watched helplessly.

Their voices in Austin’s mind were blotted out as he knew what he had to do. “Please wings, don’t fail me now!” he gritted his teeth in anticipation as the bottom of the ravine was closing in.

The adrenaline increased dramatically for Austin as he picked up the pace trying to flap his wings rapidly. Both him and Rainbow Dash were soon equal in height while she screamed in peril unable to fathom what was really happening to her. She couldn’t notice him as her eyes were shut while she was struggling vigorously, trying to break free from the vines clutches. Austin was desperately hoping he would gain some ground as he started to feel an updraft under his body from his wings, barely able to dodge some of the gorged out branches further down the ravine.

Rainbow Dash was in the free-fall of her life and Austin would not let her die on his watch. With a few more strokes of his wings as the bottom started to get dangerously close, he could soar towards her at an angle, keeping his hooves in front to attempt to catch her, but was not sure if he could make it in time as he only paid attention her. The closer they were, his mind started to feel time was slowing down from the rush coursing within his body.

Inches away from Rainbow Dash, Austin gritted his teeth barely able to keep his eyes open as the ground was only but a few feet away containing a pool of dark coloured flowers and mud. With a last vicious stroke of his wings, it helped propel him enough to catch the vines she was trapped in, flapping even harder feeling a lot of stress from the fall earlier.

Austin, struggling to create enough upward force to simply fly back up, simply caused them to drop at a slower rate down the remaining few inches to the ground. Upon impact was a burning sensation and the wind was being knocked out of his body as he slid in the pool of mud and flowers, while Rainbow Dash was to his surprise rolling forward bouncing minimally as the circular formation of the vines that encased her.

The whole world was spinning in Rainbow Dash’s eyes as she felt unsure of what was happening. She was only able to get a glimpse in of the green Pegasus that tumbled out of control a second after impact as she was breathing heavily rolling until eventually she came to a complete stop a distance away from him.

“Wha…huh?” Rainbow Dash gasped for air for a moment as she was not emotionally stable yet; trying to figure out whether she was alive or not, more importantly, how.

Her mind reeling with questions, she took a moment to look around, and found herself at the bottom of the ravine. She could hear her friends calling down to her and also looked to her side and realized she was not alone, seeing a green and red stripped Pegasus with a muddied up mane. “Who?...” she winced as her eyes watered from the event.

Austin looked into the eyes of Rainbow Dash from a distance barely, only to vaguely have another strange nostalgic feeling once again in the dark recesses of his mind. Unable to breathe properly, he was only able to show a soft smile on his face as his own world was blacking out, hearing muffled voices in the darkness.

Lingering Dreams

Chapter 2: Lingering Dreams

Dark clouds filled the mind of the mysterious pegasus, Austin confused as if he was standing in the middle of nowhere. An endless sea of black space surrounded him giving an unsettling feeling as well as familiarity that this was a place he did not want to be in right now. “Not here again…” He says hearing his own voice echo in the cold empty space.

Eerie sounds crept into Austin’s ears reminding him he was in his dream world; however a world he wished to escape from as he began to run. He tried to gallop away into the distance as fast as his hooves could take him, and flapping his wings trying to fly away. Nothing worked as the noises became louder and louder, to the form of voices that were unclear.

Austin stopped to put his hooves over his face crying out, “Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!!!” over and over again as if he was afraid of something that housed itself in the darkness.

The darkness then started to voice a maniacal laughter, a laugh Austin stressed further as he peered off in front of him, finding a set of piercing crimson eyes with thin pupils staring at him as the laugh continued. “Nooooooo!!!” Austin yelled raising his voice.

Just as he yelled his whole being was taken from the horrific scene, reality then started to snap back into perspective. After feeling and hearing a thud, Austin slowly started to wake seeing a green roof above him, and the figure of a pony watching over him. His vision was blurred at first hearing a muffled voice that called his name.

Austin’s vision cleared eventually realizing he was bedridden, groaning in pain when he yawned, stretching himself. Feeling his forehead and belly bandaged up. He noticed a beige pony in front of him that was dressed like a doctor with white clothing and a stethoscope around his neck. A hospital setting at least felt familiar to him in some ways, if not exact to Austin.

The pony in front of him broke the silence as he held a clipboard. “Well it seemed like you slept soundly until I came here now to check on you. You were quite a wreck yet something about you baffles me.” The pony doctor said.

Austin was pondering feeling very blank and wondered how he was still alive. Only a few simple questions came to mind as he tried to relax on the bed with his head resting on the soft pillow. Staring at part of his bright green mane covering part of his vision looking scruffy, but bedhead was the least of his worries. “Please tell me what happened doc.” he asked listening intently, resting his hooves in front of himself, seeing the red stripes on them gave him some particular mental reminders.

“Hmm, straight and to the point huh, you’re lucky to be alive after being out for about a day now.” the beige pony began while looking at his clipboard shuffling some papers with a hoof. “Just in case you don’t know already since I haven’t seen you before, you’re in the Ponyville hospital ward. You were brought here unconscious and in bad shape. You bruised your wings, abdomen and your head. In addition, you were tossing and turning all night as if you were in a really bad dream. We could not wake you, so we decided to wait it out.”

Austin gasped silently putting a hoof over his mouth shocked finding he was in a nightmare for quite some time, however he had a feeling he was unconscious while inside of the dream of infinite space where anything bad can happen. “I hate it! I detest it! I know deep down…I never wanted to be there again!” he thought to himself.

The thought of it was unsettling as Austin started to look depressed, “I’m sure you have more to tell me doc.” he said quietly looking down at the bed sheets and at his own hooves.

The pony doctor adjusted his clothes and cleared his throat checking the clipboard again. “Well I noticed something strange while you were staying here, you recovered relatively quickly from the injuries you received from the accident in the Everfree Forest. It sounded like quite a painful tumble based on the description some of your friends gave after bringing you here.”

“I guess I can still heal faster than normal…Also who would bring me here? Could it be the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Austin thought staring at the doctor walking by his side. “Who brought me here?” he asked casually.

“I believe it was Twilight Sparkle and some of her friends.” the doctor began. “Rainbow Dash was making such a fuss about you saving her and her biggest fan Scootaloo. They should be arriving again soon. Just what happened out there erm…Austin was it?”

“So it was Rainbow Dash that Scootaloo mentioned before…why did I feel something when I looked into her eyes?” Austin thought briefly feeling another chill down his spine, shivering a little.

It felt mysterious to Austin when he was able to fly again, to rescue someone like Rainbow Dash, why would that give a feeling of nostalgia. He felt like he had to think more into this some other time as he tried to figure out what to do next. Looking back at the pony doctor, “Yes, and it’s a long story.” Austin replied bluntly.

“Well I need to attend to something else, and you are free to go as well since I checked on your recovery a couple hours ago. Just try not to fly for a while since your wings still seem sore.” the doctor said taking off his bandages.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” Austin says feeling himself with a hoof.

Austin started to feel normal again, slowly getting off of the bed making his way out the door. He passed by some nurse ponies tending to other patients while walking down the hall. He paid no heed however while he collected his thoughts staring at the floor. It was hard to believe in his mind that the first things Austin did in Equestria was save an acquaintance, and somepony he heard about, she somehow gave him strange chills down his spine. “Rainbow Dash huh…” he thought to himself as the feeling lingered in his head like a mark was placed there.

After listening to muffled noises the hospital had to offer, such as IVs and groans from the other patients, he started to hear some familiar voices coming from outside the window as he reached the main foyer. Just outside were six different ponies, he recognised three of them just by their faces and the colour of their coat. The three of which were Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and the other three he had yet to meet.

Austin did not get a chance to get properly introduced to the three ponies he saw the night before. On that note however, based on what he heard in the forest; he figured the names of the purple unicorn, the orange earth pony, and the cyan rainbow coloured pegasus. Feeling unenthusiastic to meeting new ponies in the first place, he was unsure if he could face them now.

Examining the other ponies, he saw a cream coloured pegasus with a bright pink mane and an innocent look on her face. There was also another earth pony that brought a whole new meaning to the pink colours on her coat and bouncy mane. She was also making silly faces at random moments during their conversation. Lastly, there was a bright white coloured unicorn with a dark purple mane gesturing herself to be dazzling in front of her friends.

Austin noticed Rainbow Dash hovering over them, figuring that flying was her special trait as he saw a rainbow lightning bolt symbol on her flank. He also noticed other symbols on each of the other ponies, but did not ponder on this for too long, growing depressed thinking further into the idea.

In addition, he could not hide from them either, feeling like he owed them at least a proper appearance considering what he had already done. Austin felt closed off, feeling doubt and insecurity in the world around him. He suppressed this thought however when he shook his head remembering his deeds would definitely open some doors of opportunity.

After taking a deep breath mustering up his courage, Austin stepped outside being introduced to another bright sunny day with another cool breeze he felt across his mane. The next thing he knew he was meeting the eyes of the six mares in front of him. Their eyes filled with mixed feelings of relief, concern and confusion seeing the mysterious pegasus colt approach them. The pink pony however bounced around in excitement followed by a gasp realizing she saw a pony she never seen before. Anyone in Ponyville would know what to expect when the pink pony finds a new pony that there will be a party to follow.

Before the pink pony could zip off anywhere, Applejack yanked on her tail with her mouth bringing her back down to earth with a snapping sound. “Whoa there Pinkie Pie, we came here to see him personally, remember.” she said giving her a slight irritated look.

“Oopsie, sorry Applejack, you know me when I like to make new friends!” Pinkie squeaked as she bounced again around Austin randomly.

Austin blushed shifting his eyes left and right shyly, unsure what he was getting himself into, he clearly wasn’t expecting this. “Seems like you finally woke up sleepyhead; we were starting to get worried you might never wake up, but I knew you would eventually.” Rainbow Dash said brashly while flapping her wings floating near Austin.

Austin stood there silently unsure how to reply, and then saw Twilight irritably said, “Rainbow, show some respect! He risked his life to save you after all.”

“Honestly show some courtesy Rainbow Dash. It won’t do you harm like what almost happened dearie.” added the white unicorn.

Rainbow Dash stopped in midair with some guilt in her rose coloured eyes looking shyly between her friends and Austin. “I know…I just still can’t believe it. It felt like I was saved by a Wonderbolt!” she said with pride in contrast to something unknown to Austin.

Austin finally broke the silence looking at Rainbow Dash directly, “It’s alright you don’t have to thank me. I only did my best to help so no biggie.” he said with some self-doubt in his voice.

Upon hearing Austin’s modesty, Rainbow Dash immediately landed by his side placing a hoof on one of his wings with pride. “Are you kidding?!” she began with shock in her eyes. ”You are awesome for what you did for me and Scoots that I’m surprised anypony like you would come to my rescue. Even if you are a stranger with no cutie mark.”

Austin blushed some more hearing that and was left speechless for multiple reasons. Twilight Sparkle stepped in nudging Rainbow Dash aside, “What my friend here is trying to say, is despite the circumstances, you were really brave for Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo.” she said with sincerity.

“Yay…” suddenly added the cream coloured pegasus expressing a squeaky face.

Everypony stared at her and she knelt down in response. “Oh, umm…I’m sorry, but I wanted to say thank you for taking care of the girls as well, especially Scootaloo. I was away from my cottage to help Rarity with something important.”

Remembering the three fillies, Austin was curious about their whereabouts after the incident. He also wondered how Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Twilight Sparkle ended up searching for them in the first place. Walking closer to the six ponies, he asked about the Cutie Mark Crusaders as well as how they were found.

“Well my sis explained everything to us about what happened during your venture in the Everfree Forest. I sent them home after I carried you out of the forest.” Applejack replied with honesty in her voice.

In addition, they also explained that Zecora was in Ponyville while Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack were searching for the crusaders. Zecora explained that she was expecting the crusaders to search for the Spotted Ditch flower at a remote area in the Everfree Forest.

Understanding the situation now, Austin brushed his mane briefly with a hoof and bowed his head down briefly towards the orange pony with the neat hat. “Thank you very much…I wasn’t sure if I was able to save your friend.”

“Well think nothing of it partner.” Applejack replies starting to rapidly shake one of Austin’s hooves up and down almost making him dizzy. “A friend of my sister and savior of my friend of mine is reason to be a friend of mine.” she said while continuing to shake his hoof.

Austin composed himself after Applejack said thank you again. With such questions out of the way, it was time that the six mares wanted to introduce themselves delaying no longer to the pegasus colt. “By the way we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Twilight Sparkle, protégé of Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria. What’s your name?” she started, placing a hoof on herself.

Noticing Austin was in more comfortable hands, he finally thought it was best to say his name to the six ponies before him. “Alright, my name is Austin Angelus. Strange name I know…and before you ask I don’t have a cutie mark because I suppose I haven’t found what makes me special yet…” he said with a slowly decreasing tone in his voice.

The six mares looked at each other and given the circumstances, there was no laugher expressed here, except for the silly pink pony who, by this point was still bouncing around Austin as some time passed. The cream coloured pegasus floated near him, “Oh, it’s a nice name. My name is Fluttershy and I take care of animals at my cottage near the Everfree Forest. But you may have seen it already…” she said with a little more confidence than Austin.

The white unicorn walked by Fluttershy taking a keen look at Austin. “I’m Rarity, and charmed to meet your brave and handsome acquaintance Austin. I typically sell clothes at my shop, The Carousel Boutique. You should stop by sometime, I could make you look simply smashing.” she said with starry eyes clopping her hooves together briefly.

Austin blushed again realizing he probably made quite an impression to the group of mares, possibly to all of Ponyville for that matter. “Th-thanks…I may take you up on your offer later.”

Rarity then realized something and nudged Fluttershy. “Oh my, I forgot! I would like to stay and chat but me and Fluttershy have a project we need to finish. We’ll catch you later in Ponyville Austin. Please come this way Fluttershy.” she said as she started to run down the hill towards what Austin guessed was the beautiful town of Ponyville.

“Oh, right, I’ll see you later Austin.” Fluttershy added as she flew down to follow Rarity.

Before Austin could take in the view of Ponyville further, the orange pony tipped her hat as she once again shook Austin’s hoof vigorously. “Well howdy do partner. I’m Applejack. I own Sweet Apple Acres near the clubhouse Applebloom and her friends go to. If you got time later, you can enjoy a variety of apple based delicacies we have and meet the rest of the family.”

“That would be real nice of you Applejack.” Austin said in a dizzy voice while hoof shaking with Applejack.

Once she stopped, she put her hat back on her bright yellow ponytail mane and gave Austin a nudge on the chest with a hoof. “Well I hate to split, but I promised to help Big Macintosh with some apple bucking soon and I am not one to break promises.” Applejack said and then sweat broke out on her face when she looked at the pink pony.

“Well most of the time. And that there is Pinkie pie, she can be quite well…random at times so don’t mind her. Anyways I’ll see y’all later Austin. ” Applejack added as she galloped down the slope and turned towards the distant apple fields.

Austin sighed quietly, “I get the feeling I’ll meet the rest of you soon anyways so yeah!” he called down Applejack.

Pinkie Pie bounced right in front of Austin shaking both of his hooves with her own making him almost bounce up and down from the ground. “Since Applejack decided to say my name, just let me say we are going to be the best friends ever Austie! You’re bedazzling and super-duper brave for Rainbow Dash and you deserve more than a proper welcome to Ponyville! Pinkie promise me you’ll come to Sugarcube Corner tonight pleeeeease?!” she said with a peppy tone in her voice.

The large crimson eyes of Austin suddenly went wide in surprise as Pinkie said a familiar nickname to him. Disregarding being really dizzy from the repeated wild hoof shaking from her, he once again felt another mysterious chill down his spine, unable to pinpoint why he kept feeling them periodically.

Austin decided to contemplate on these thoughts later and refusing invitations to a party this early on to him would not bode well. “Sure Pinkie, it’s a promise. You seem really nice.” he said noticing the sun starting to set over Ponyville.

“Great! See you there! Oh and more than half of Ponyville already knows what happened earlier. See yah!” she bounced high up into the air.

The next thing Austin knew, Pinkie was zipping right down towards Ponyville before he could even ask where Sugarcube Corner was. “You have got to be kidding…” Austin thought in surprise.

Thinking about directions to Sugarcube Corner also reminded Austin that he also forgot to ask where Carousel Boutique was, facehoofing himself in response. Rainbow Dash shrugged, she hadn’t said a word while the other ponies said their formalities. She floated near Twilight lost in her own thoughts remembering the incident and was at a loss for words when looking at Austin. He noticed this and decided to break the ice one way or another, even when staring into her eyes gave explosions of lingering thoughts inside his mind. “So you must be the famous Rainbow Dash I keep hearing about from Scootaloo and friends. I am glad you’re safe…” he said kicking the ground with his hoof shyly trying to lighten the mood.

Twilight was not sure what she was watching while seeing the two pegasi act the way they were at first. Rainbow Dash zipped in front of Austin, “Not just famous, I am the fastest flyer in all of Equestria! I’m a world class athlete.” She promptly announced standing up on her hind hooves with her front ones crossed.

Austin sighed at this remark, “So not only did I save your life, I saved your reputation as well…” he said looking down on the thin grass.

Rainbow Dash blushed feeling she was out of line from her previous statement. “Listen Austin, I am in your debt for what you done for me and Scoots. I’m just not used to being saved like this.” she commented placing a hoof on Austin again.

Austin looked back up to Rainbow Dash’s eyes and gave a soft smile, ignoring the chill down his spine this time. Twilight spoke up, “Rainbow, since when have you felt indebted to anyone like this.”

“Right now Twilight, don’t pry me on this!” Rainbow Dash retorted turning towards her.

“Sorry Rainbow, anyways I think we should give you a tour around Ponyville since I heard you aren’t from here right Austin?” Twilight asked as they started to walk away from the Hospital and down towards Ponyville.

The breeze started to get chilly as time passed while they trekked closer to Ponyville. Austin shook nervously a little from that statement while he followed them. Rainbow Dash flew above them close by doing random loops and spins to her hearts content. Watching her was almost mesmerising and the feeling of nostalgia returned. “You alright Austin?” Twilight asked noticing she did not get a response yet.

“Oh umm, no I’m not from Ponyville nor Cloudsdale for that matter, and the doctor recommended for me not to fly for a while.” he said trying to stretch his wings feeling it sprain a little still from the impact.

“Well look on the bright side Austin.” Rainbow Dash began deciding to flip herself to land between Austin and Twilight. “You’re not the only one who was stuck in bed. My wing was broken a while back and I slept in the same bed you did Austin. Kind of funny huh…but you’ll be back up in the skies in no time flat, I’m sure!”

“The same bed!? Why does that make me feel so odd about it…even if it does seem like a coincidence?” Austin thought while keeping pace with Rainbow Dash.

Austin wanted to ask even more questions involving some of the things she said, but he let it go for now as he wanted to see Ponyville first before anything else. The thoughts of hunger also struck as his belly started to growl violently. “Oh gosh, it’s been a while since I ate anything as well…I just hope the food around here is fine. I still need time to get used to all of these ponies as well as Equestria.” he thought as Twilight took notice.

“We’ll also get you something to eat for sure once we get to Sugarcube Corner. Trust me; you earned it since Pinkie is most likely making a party for you for multiple reasons now.” Twilight mentioned with a soft giggle.

“Yeah it will be totally awesome!” Rainbow Dash agreed.

“Thanks for the heads up, I look forward to checking out Ponyville, it looks nice from here.” Austin replied figuring as much as the three ventured towards Ponyville in the setting sun.

The sky turning slowly darker with some clouds overhead gave him a soft warm feeling. However the sun setting also meant that he would have to figure out where he would end up sleeping, or if he even wanted to sleep at all. He was unable to fathom what he had experienced after the Everfree Forest. “A party huh…perhaps it will help get my mind off some things and help prevent me from going back to sleep for a while.” Austin thought looking off into the distance towards Ponyville.

“There’s no way I want to go back into that dream any time soon. I just wish I knew what was going on. Why am I here...in Equestria?” Austin delved deeper into his thoughts as he looked at Rainbow Dash trotting along beside him, seeing her with much bravado.

Fame and Insecurity

Chapter 3: Fame and Insecurity

Ponyville was a fairly adequate town even for Austin’s standards, especially when entering a town of various ponies. Upon entering, he saw quite a few decently crafted wooden homes, and other buildings with more unique craft, such as the town hall they passed. Among such places, ponies were going about their daily lives from shopping to ordinary business. It came to somewhat of a surprise to Austin that even a town of ponies could be well organized.

Twilight explained some of the landmarks to Austin such as her library in a tall old tree, and the directions to Carousel Boutique and Sweet Apple Acres. Austin could do nothing but listen, but his mind said otherwise, drifting in and out of reality dragging in the same questions in his thoughts. “Why am I here? Why do I feel strange around Rainbow Dash…?” he asked himself.

While it was late in the afternoon, quite a number of colourful ponies still hustle and bustle around the streets. Some ponies had horns where they casted incantations to even do trivial of tasks such as lifting groceries around. There were also a few other pegasi that flew about town and walked casually with other ponies. Some pegasi also carried a few small clouds in their hooves and Rainbow Dash didn’t mind for several reasons, she kept to herself.

Austin noticed that some ponies where staring at him giving mixed expressions of joy and curiosity. Trying to ignore this for now, he also asked how the incident in the Everfree Forest happened in the first place. Twilight then explained that Rainbow Dash was entangled in a special type of vine that had special properties that would disrupt the magic used on them. She also told that applying the wrong kind of magic or being unable to manually remove them, they would wrap around the victim immobilizing them for a while. Rainbow Dash sighed knowing she had been a victim to sheer bad luck. She however brushed off the thoughts knowing she was safe and sound by the hooves of her new friend Austin.

It was starting to get late while darkness took the skies as Austin, Twilight and Rainbow Dash took one last look around Ponyville. They eventually saw a colourful candy filled building that stuck out like a sore hoof among the rest of the buildings. It looked dark inside from the outside, but that was to be expected knowing what the three were in for. “And there’s Sugarcube Corner, housing the tastiest pastries in Ponyville and Pinkie Pies home.” Twilight articulated.

“Looks well, quite something.” Austin replied as he took notice of Rainbow Dash acting unusual again.

Dash was quiet for most of the tour, casually walking around alongside Austin with little words to say. She did fly around town here and there, but went straight back to Austin and Twilight. Seeing Dash had stopped near the entrance, Austin had no clue what was on her mind and felt obligated to say something. “Listen, you don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to.” he uttered trying to sound comforting.

Rainbow Dash shot a worried look flying directly near Austin, “Are you kidding?! I’m not sure if I can face the others in there after what almost happened to myself.” she answered looking nervous.

Twilight turned giving Dash a scowl, “Is that what’s been eating you for a while? You should learn to let that go and learn from your mistakes. This party isn’t going to be laughing about them.” she whispered the last sentence noticing a shadowy figure inside the window of Sugarcube Corner.

Dash landed near Austin upon hearing that placing a hoof to drag him close, to his surprise, towards her. “Yeah I suppose your right Twi. I’ll just try and be awesome with my new pal Austin here.” she announced giving him a hoof noogie on his green mane.

“H-hey…!” Austin grunted trying to get out of Dash’s grasp.

“I see that’s been sorted out, anyways come on in Austin.” Twilight Sparkle giggled watching the two.

Twilight’s horn sparkled opening the door for Austin to enter. He took a deep breath after Dash let him go shaking himself off; only thinking about how this will hopefully help him stay awake. In addition, he also needed to think about what to do next, but he wanted to let one thing come at a time.

After a moment, Austin started to walk his way in being followed by Twilight and Dash. It was pitch black inside as he was unable to see much of anything when Twilight shut the door. The silence gave him the creeps regardless of knowing what to expect.

Nopony said a word as Austin walked forward for a couple seconds, then suddenly, his front hooves hit something hard and he tripped face first into something wet and squishy. Just as soon as that happened, life jumpstarted in the room as many colourful ponies jumped out of corners and countertops of the room yelling “Surprise!”

The ponies threw out random balloons and streamers including Pinkie Pie and the rest of her Friends. In that instant, they suddenly stopped, gasping at what they saw. Austin was on the floor where his face was dunked into a messy pile of succulent chocolate cake.

Pinkie Pie giggled unable to help herself while Twilight tried to see what happened. She noticed a pair of gray hooves under a nearby table where Austin fell. The pony underneath crept out and it was a pegasus with a yellow mane, bubbles for a cutie mark, and she was cross eyed vertically. The odd pegasus put a hoof on her mouth nervously, “Oops, my bad...” she said in a cute voice.

“Oh Derpy…” sighed a facehoofing bright green unicorn with a silver mane and a golden harp as her cutie mark.

The scent of chocolate filled Austin’s nostrils as he tried to breathe licking off some of the cake around his mouth. The taste seemed refreshing and sweet to his surprise as he picked himself up and gave a stupid grin. Twilight and her friends weren’t sure how he was going to react, “Well, that was quite the surprise. Thanks Pinkie.” Austin responded with a soft giggle towards her.

Pinkie Pie felt filled with accomplishment after seeing Austin smile. He wiped himself off with cake in his face, tasting it some more. Pinkie bounced around Austin randomly again announcing, “And with that fillies and gentlecolts, It’s time to welcome Austin, the new pegasus in town and party!”

Relief struck her other friends as life started to return to the party with a few cheers towards Austin. Among those cheers was a quiet “Yay…” from Fluttershy.

At a loss for words, Austin cleaned himself off there was still some cake was in his mane. “Wow, I’m already loving this. I…never had a party like this before.” he thought looking around the crowded room of ponies that already started to mingle.

Music and other noises filled the room as Pinkie pie then zipped over to the other guests after giving Austin a dozen hoof shakes for rescuing her Dashie friend. “It’s real nice you were able to join us Austin, I wasn’t sure if you were going to come.” remarked Fluttershy, sitting nearby beside Rarity who wore a shiny dress he could not describe.

Austin nodded, “No worries Fluttershy, I wouldn’t dare miss something like this.” He replied looking around for some more food.

Rarity cringed as she remembered the last time somepony broke a Pinkie promise. The results weren’t something she wouldn’t want anypony else to see. “Nice to see you again too Austin, and please for future reference, keep to Pinkie’s promises.” Rarity stated.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind I guess, and you look great in that dress too.” he commented trying to be as nice as possible.

“Oh thank you, at least some gentlecolts take notice of my exquisite fashion.” Rarity, added before talking to Fluttershy about their custom fashion line.

Before Austin could eat, Twilight stepped up to him stating, “I need to talk to you about a few things later so come to the library when you get the time.” she said.

“What about?” Austin asked curiously.

“Oh just some things I need to check up on, and you of course. Anyways I got to talk to Fluttershy and Rarity.” she answered before joining them.

The words hit Austin like a ton of wooden planks to the face as he turned around to face the food. He desperately wanted to eat so much, but he felt so reluctant feeling like he was taking advantage of their kindness over deeds that felt well familiar to him. Conflicting thoughts rushed into his mind as he took a look at Rainbow Dash trying to look like a normal part of the party. “Darn it…I really need to sort all of these thoughts out later.” he thought before diving into the party platter.

Austin then spared no time as he began eating more of the cake, pastries and even delicious muffins on the table Derpy was under earlier. “Whoa there partner, don’t try to overeat, though try these apples I collected. Big Macintosh allowed me to spare a few.” said Applejack as she offered up a couple red apples to Austin.

Taking the apples gladly, Austin said his thanks to her before continuing to eat. The excessive amount of sugar and nutrition kept Austin on his hooves, he desperately needed the energy. “Anything…to keep me from falling asleep for a while.” he thought fighting the sadness that lingered in the back of his mind.

Rainbow Dash noticed wanting to make a statement since she barely made any words towards the celebration. She suddenly flew onto by nearby table with a bowl of punch standing up tall to get everyponys attention. “Hey attention everypony, I just want to say a few words.” Dash announced.

Dash’s wings were extended and Austin looked after he finished one more muffin from Derpy. “I just want to give my awesome appreciations to Austin! Without him, I wouldn’t be here talking to you today. I personally want to show him around Cloudsdale when he is able to fly once again. Regardless of him being new to Ponyville, he’s cool in my book!” she continued with much of her bravado returning to her face.

The ponies clopped their hooves on the ground in applause while Austin blushed once again. “I really do hope things will be alright…I’m not sure what I’ll do here after this.” he thought giving a small insecure look.

Twilight gave a proud look to Dash as she got off the table near her, “Wow Rainbow, you really put some thought into this and you’re showing some modesty of your own this time around.”

“Yeah well it’s not easy Twi, but this is the only answer I can come up with.” Rainbow replied.

After barely hearing the door open and close, Austin took notice of a particular pair of pegasi that entered the party. One of which Austin recognized as the small crusader Scootaloo who excitedly walked over to him. “Hi Scootaloo, how have you been?” he asked.

“Great Austin, you wouldn’t believe who I found today, she was on her way to the party and she wanted to meet you.” she bounced pointing with a hoof over to the pegasus at the door.

Nopony else took notice, not even Rainbow Dash while she conversed with Twilight and the others. Austin took a gander at the mare pegasus that approached him. Her mane arranged and coloured like fire dangling on top of a pair of flight goggles she wore over her lovely orange eyes. Her coat was bright yellow like the sun along with her wings that were spread, but was mostly covered what looked like a very sleek blue outfit outlined with lightning bolts. A long lightning bolt was in the place of where her cutie mark would be, but Austin guessed it was part of the outfit.

Something about this pegasus gave Austin the shivers, “So I take it you’re the pegasus that saved the champion of the Best Flyer Competition a ways back. Is this true?” she asked while taking a good look at the green and red stripped pegasi in front of her.

“Do you mean Rainbow Dash?” Austin guessed as he took some interest.

“Why yes, Rainbow Dash. She was the star of the show with her legendary Sonic Rainboom and we granted her flying lessons for a day as a reward. I just really wanted to meet you when I heard.”

“Sounds big, and who’s we?” Austin asked.

The yellow pegasus adjusted her goggles for a second, “Oh, my name is Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, the greatest flyers in all of Equestria. Your name must be Austin I assume?” She said offering a hoof to him.

The sounds of the party drowned out in Austin’s mind as the word Wonderbolt carried more weight than expected in Austin’s mind. He remembered back when Rainbow Dash mentioned something about that when talking about how it felt to her being saved by him. “Yes, my name is Austin Angelus, and I just so happened to run into Rainbow Dash in the Everfree forest while exploring with Scootaloo here.” He replied returning that hoof to Spitfire.

Scootaloo gave a silly grin watching the two mingle, “It was so cool that you were able to do it too for the both of us.” she said.

“Yes, it must have taken quite some skill to be able to rescue Dash.” Spitfire added with confidence.

“Skill? Don’t be ridiculous…” Austin thought looking disappointed.

Austin was beginning to figure that not many ponies get saved in Equestria that often, especially for someone important as Rainbow Dash. He could not pinpoint why, however he could not complain about the current hospitality given despite of this. “Oh no, it was just a spur of the moment kind of thing over a mistake she made, nothing more. Don’t hold it against her ok?” Austin stated to Spitfire.

Spitfire giggled giving Austin a hoof on the shoulder, “Hey no problem, it happens to the best of us believe me.” She remarked adjusting her goggles again.

While listening to the laughter from Pinkie Pie and the others in the background, Austin sighed in relief. “That’s good, and before you ask Spitfire, I’m not really a skilled flyer, even if Rainbow Dash said I was like you when I’m not. I’ve also been grounded for tonight.” he said trying to spread his own wings still felling a sharp pain from them.

For a moment, Spitfire wasn’t too surprised as she pondered over what she could do, and then sparked an idea. “Hey Austin, in that case, since me and Soarin are taking the day off from our daily routines tomorrow, how about we give you a personal flying lesson?” she asked with a grin.

“W-wow…that’s awfully kind of you Spitfire, I’d…” Austin said with a loss for words.

“This…may be my one ticket to re-learn how to fly like this…especially if-” Austin was cut off in mid thought as he heard something loud making him jump.

A loud gasp followed by a girlish squeal from the background coming from a particular cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane. “Ohmygoshohmygoshogmygoshogmygooooosh!” the rushed voice coming from Rainbow Dash that zipped right over the other ponies to the two.

The excitement in Dash’s eyes was mind-blowingly scary as Austin had never seen anypony like this. She floated over the two trying to fathom the spectacle in front of her. “Oh hey Dash I was wondering if you were here since your new friend here was.” said Spitfire as she was used to seeing Dash like this.

Rainbow Dash could not believe she didn’t notice sooner as she was telling random jokes with her friends earlier. Thoughts rushed into her mind how could Spitfire be a surprise guest in Austin’s welcome party. “Spitfire?! What are you doing here in Ponyville?!” she asked hardly able to control herself.

“Word travels fast, especially when it’s about you Rainbow Dash. I came to see you two while Soarin decided to stuff his face with pie back in Cloudsdale. It’s great to see our favourite flyer in one piece.” Spitfire explained.

While the over-excited Rainbow Dash talked to Spitfire, Austin began to understand that this is what she meant when Dash told him her thoughts with the word Wonderbolt. It felt as though she were rescued from a superhero anypony would find in stories or a lifetime idol somepony looks up to everyday of their natural lives. He felt neither of those things as heroic deeds; they seemed too familiar to Austin personally when he thought back. However as of now he didn’t feel like a hero, or anything special for that matter. Deep down inside, Austin started to feel cold, and lonely, thinking about memories he wished to piece together later.

“Well I promised to give Austin the grand tour around Cloudsdale when he is able to fly again.” Rainbow Dash said with pride.

“Oh if only you knew…ugh what’s wrong with me!” Austin thought feeling stressed as he looked at his hooves and his wings.

Spitfire smiled at Dash’s offer to Austin, “Well before that, in our day off tomorrow if Austin can, he can join me and Soarin for a personal flying lesson. Wanna come?” she asked.

As soon as Spitfires words spilled, the whole world took a tailspin in Rainbow Dash’s head, her mind racing as she tried to piece together what one of her famed idols just said. “Austin?...Personal flying lessons?!” she winced as if something inside of her was about to explode, twice.

It wasn’t long before everypony in the party heard Rainbow Dash squeal in pure excitement whizzing around the room unable to contain herself. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoooooosh! How Austin?! Oh gosh who cares?! We get to spend time with the Wonderbolts!” Dash thought to herself almost feeling like she should get herself in peril more often if it would attract this kind of attention.

Twilight Sparkle stepped up promptly towards them with her friends while holding a cupcake in the air with her magic. “Wow Austin, it’s quite an honor when opportunity knocks like this, you two should totally go.”

Ignoring Rainbow’s craziness, Austin shuffled his mane with his hoof a little thinking about it. The desire to fly again filled his head like nostalgia and he needed some air time to possibly clear his mind of troubling thoughts. He thought being able to fly would be the best next step for now. “I’d love to Spitfire, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Austin replied offering a hoof.

Spitfire returned it with a bump as she put her flight goggles over her eyes. “Sounds great, rest well beforehand ok buddy?” she asked with promise in her fiery eyes.

“Will do Spitfire, see you later.” Austin said lowering his volume gradually after each word.

“Great, we will meet near Rainbow Dash’s cloud home east of Ponyville. Anyways, gotta fly to tell Soarin about it. Bye!” Spitfire said as she flew right out the door speeding off into the skies.

The further away Spitfire flew; Austin grew more and more nervous as he looked into the night sky losing most of his pent up energy. The darkness felt draining as he knew what he was in for most likely if sleeps cold embrace beckoned him. There was a chance he could sleep soundly, but a chance he may need to take in Equestria in order to move on. “See I told you, quite the surprise huh.” Scootaloo stated snapping Austin back to reality.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash tackled Austin to the ground without a second thought after he agreed to Spitfire’s offer. “That was so awesome! Your officially twenty percent cooler!” she squealed exuberantly.

Austin looked up at her trying to regain composure. “Yeah I guess you’re right Dash, I suppose we should be glad things turned like this today huh.” Austin said with a silly grin.

“Well sugarcube, I bet by tomorrow y’all will be fixed up in no time.” commented Applejack.

“Hmph, fixed up…funny.” Austin thought in response trying to get up from under Rainbow Dash.

Rarity suddenly gasped as she realized something, “Oh my, I almost forgot, where did you plan on staying after the party?” she asked.

It never crossed Austin’s mind until he was asked directly, and wasn’t sure himself. He simply couldn’t go back to the hospital and Ponyville was an entirely different place to him. Austin knew he had no true place to stay as far as he could remember, he felt like a drifter. “I’m sorry but I didn’t think about that even if I just got here.” Austin sighed.

Rarity and her friends looked at each other then looked back to Austin. “My my this won’t do, not at all. How about you come spend the night at Carousel Boutique upstairs in the guest room?”

“Oh you don’t have to Rarity.” Austin remarked.

“Oh but I do, for Dash’s sake and I’m feeling generous tonight.” said Rarity in return as she held a glass of punch with her magic.

Austin thought about it for a moment lingering on the word generous in his mind. He couldn’t simply back out of it now since these ponies were being so kind to him. It wasn’t long before he considered that he needs a place to stay for now until he was able to cover some ground. Nodding at her, he replied, “Alright Rarity, I’ll spend the night at your shop. Thank you so much.”

“Marvellous.” Rarity clopped her hooves together offering Austin some punch.

“I’ll be sure you won’t be late as well Austin.” barked Rainbow Dash eagerly as her excitement of what transpired tired her out.

Austin gave a soft smile, “I know I won’t as I’m never late.

Pinkie Pie bounced over to Austin as he drank some of the punch Rarity offered him. “Well without further ado, lets party some more!” she said with a huge smile.

After that being said, Austin drank down some more punch to refresh himself again since he forgot about thirst blindly at the start. He started to talk to Twilight and her friends about themselves a little. They talked about Fluttershy’s animals, Applejack’s farm, and the Wonderbolts that Rainbow Dash insisted on explaining further for him.

Rainbow Dash mentioned it was her dream to join them and this to Austin gave him another cold shiver. Thinking about this set more thoughts reeling about dreams and personal goals as it wasn’t something thought much about either. The more information he gathered from Rainbow Dash, the harder his mind was struggling to push back lingering thoughts that brought sadness to him. "Why...?" the only thought he could muster.

It was getting late and the party started dying down as most of the ponies started to head home. Pinkie Pie was super happy knowing that her party was yet again, a success in its own right, and told Austin to come again soon. He considered it and agreed with her as he left with the other five mare friends.

Scootaloo said her goodbyes as she zoomed off on her scooter with Applejack to her farm where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sleeping tonight. Fluttershy and Twilight left as well back to their homes, leaving only Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Austin watched Rainbow Dash still smiling exuberantly while flying circles above the two.

The night sky seemed quite beautiful as he saw a full moon overhead of Ponyville. The chilled wind stroked across his mane once again and he could of sworn he saw a single snowflake drop down on his nose. Shocked by this, Austin looked up in the sky barely seeing any clouds and it wasn’t snowing. It felt mysteriously weird at first, but he could feel the soft wet touch of water stream down his cheek. “What could this mean…am I crying or…is this just my imagination?” Austin wondered begging for an explanation.

Austin could only hear Rainbow Dash’s voice saying, “Cheer up, I’m sure we’ll get you flying in no time! Anyways, I gotta fly, see you tomorrow Austin!”

Then with a flash, Austin saw Rainbow Dash flying off into the night sky without taking his eyes off of her for a second. He wiped his face with a hoof noticing he did shed a few tears without even realizing it. He thought they might have come from deep in his own thoughts. Rarity didn’t see this as she was behind him as they neared a fancy building that she described as Carousel Boutique.

After Rainbow Dash was out of sight, Austin got lost in his thoughts again, not even caring about whether he had to sleep or not anymore. Thoughts of flying, as well as a number of other things filled his mind rendering him unable to think straight. He looked up into the night sky again only to meet the nights’ cold embrace across his body and mane. Only one thought came to surface from the chilled air that hit his own wings, “Frosty…what am I to do now?” he whispered to himself.

Rarity curiously asked following behind, “I beg your pardon Austin?”

“Nothing…nothing at all.” Austin answered as he enters Rarity’s shop to welcome the cold embrace of sleep.

Nostalgia and Pain

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I was busy in the world of education and will only get busier from here on out, so bare with me please when I try to update this some more. Anyways enjoy!

Chapter 4: Nostalgia and Pain

It was a silent night in Ponyville as Austin was sound asleep. It was kind of Rarity to let him stay in a luxurious guest room that regrettably provided a large red sofa. The comfort calmed the green pegasus as he shuffled lightly unlike the tossing and turning he had done the night before. The room he was in was mostly empty and the moonlight from a nearby window shined its dim light onto his face.

Without any sign of nightmares haunting Austin this night, his thoughts shifted towards the mysterious tears he had shed from the sight of a possible snowflake. He didn’t pay much attention to what the current season was during the trip around Ponyville. Thoughts of the name Austin whispered out from his mind became a new weight within his emotions.

During the dreamless sleep, Austin could only think about four notions. One of the thoughts reflected Rainbow Dash, she had given him strange feelings of nostalgia he could not piece together a reason. Other thoughts included the nightmares he knew too well, the mysterious name he kept to himself, and the desire to fly. The unexplainable desire to fly became an unexplainable personal priority to him for the time being.

Austin had piece of mind knowing he will take a crash course with high class pegasi and his new friend Rainbow Dash. Knowing this, he decided to push down his other thoughts, and slept peacefully for the rest of the night. He was personally thankful for that, but it didn’t come without an emotional price.

Dawn started to break slowly over the horizon of Ponyville as typical morning sounds such as birds chirping and wind that blew against the window. Austin did not snore as he was entirely tucked under the blanket welcoming the peaceful sleep he was currently in. He hoped it would last for quite a while, but based on what was coming up, he knew it wouldn’t last that long. In the back of his mind, he pretended it didn’t occur for quite a while.

After the sun started to rise higher to introduce the morning, Austin started to feel something poke him from outside the blanket. He wasn’t sure what it was as he shuffled lazily trying to ignore it. The dreamless sleep felt very refreshing to him that he only wanted just a little more of it.

Suddenly there was a scream yelling, “STAMPEDE!!!”

Austin’s eyes shot open, and his body retaliating as it flailed about under the sheets. There was a thud as he fell off the sofa onto the ground hard. “Oh my gosh!” Austin shouted trying to collect himself being introduced by the morning sun directly in his face.

The room was brightly lit as Austin noticed there was a pegasus in the room with him. The bright light made it impossible to tell who it was right away. But based on the raw cyan color of the pegasus, he could only muster a single thought as he tried to wipe his eyes. “What the hay?...Is that you Fro-“

“Bahahahaha!” then laughed the pegasus which Austin soon realized was Rainbow Dash now rolling on the floor laughing.

Austin then facehoofed himself as he yawned loudly. “Really Rainbow Dash? Really…?” he said bluntly while trying to fix his mane.

After Rainbow Dash snickered a little more, she got up prodding Austin with a hoof on the shoulder. “See? I told you that I would make sure you wouldn’t be late.” she said with a huge grin on her face.

Trying to figure out how Rainbow Dash came in, Austin found that the window was wide open. He realized that he would have to keep note that there could be the possibility of random ponies flying into windows. Despite of this, it seemed like another sunny day was arising, possibly perfect for the time he will spend with pegasus flying skills.

“Well I certainly didn’t see that coming Dash.” Austin admitted looking straight at her.

“Yeah well with that aside, we should go right now Austin! Spitfire and Soarin should be arriving soon!” Dash said with profuse excitement in her voice.

She gave the same look in her eyes from the night before as Rainbow Dash lifted Austin up off the ground, flapping her wings crazily. She took him right out the window without a second thought setting him down on the ground outside of Carousel Boutique. “Whoa hey!” Austin barked unable to fathom he was inside the guest room one moment, then outside of Rarity’s shop.

“No time! Let’s not keep the Wonderbolts waiting!” Rainbow Dash responded in a rushed tone as she went flying off towards the direction of her home.

Austin shrugged after shaking himself off trying to be wide awake. He sighed as there was no way around it when he personally enjoyed the peaceful sleep he had. It was about time that he had to go towards an experience he may not soon forget as the desire to fly began to burn through his mind. “Alright, let’s do this…for our sake.” Austin thought as he then galloped after Rainbow Dash.

Meanwhile back in Carousel Boutique, Rarity burst into the room where Austin was. Her mane was completely messed up looking scruffier than Austin did before. “Stampede?! Where?! Oh please somepony save my clothes!” she stressed overdramatically.

She suddenly found that Austin was not there and before she could worry some more, she saw Rainbow Dash barely out of the window. Noticing Austin not far behind, she started to scowl to realize she was pulled into a prank that wasn’t meant for her. “Oh one of these days I will get you back Rainbow Dash!” she sneered before going back to her room to renew herself.

Austin galloped onward across the streets of Ponyville for a few minutes trying to catch up to Rainbow Dash that had flown off ahead. She was still in view overhead however she was so far ahead that she often yelled at him to pick up the pace. The enthusiasm from Dash defined her desire to fly with the Wonderbolts. Austin however had his own reasons to go along with this plan to learn how to fly. “I need to know how it feels again…at least once.” he thought while staring forward noticing he was exiting Ponyville.

Austin noticed the trees he passed by along the way had only a few orange leaves remaining on their branches. He assumed it was late in the fall season since it would explain why he occasionally felt cold air across his mane from time to time. Watching the leaves fall as he ran down the rough path, he knew deep down that winter was not far off now. “How fitting…and I really need to get used to running like this.” he thought breaking a sweat.

Rainbow Dash waited occasionally on a small cloud seeing Austin trudge along the road. It eventually spanned towards a large plain with a few steep mountains around it where a few clouds lingered in the sky overhead. “Come on Austin, we’re almost there!” she hollered to him as she sped off towards a peculiarly shaped cloud close by.

The cloud turned out to be shaped like a home that Austin had never seen before as they arrived. It had tall pillars that supported what looked like the balcony and a liquid rainbow that flowed around the outside. For someone like Rainbow Dash, he never would have guessed she would have quite a living space above ground. Furthermore, seeing a pegasus like her able to stand on clouds made him wonder if he could do the same.

“Wow that’s a real nice home you got here Rainbow.” Austin commented after staring at the spectacle of a cloud home.

“Thanks, it certainly has a dash of me on it, and I have a super comfy bed!” Dash replied smugly while standing on her balcony.

Letting the words sink in, Austin shook his head as he remembered a weird thought from before. “Quite…so where is Spitfire? She doesn’t seem to be here yet.” he called seeing nopony else.

Rainbow Dash pondered as she looked around the area. “Hmm, well she said they would be here, but it’s unlike them to be late.” she said confused.

Suddenly, Dash’s ears perked and her eyes went wide as she heard a familiar sound. Both of them heard a roaring sound that boomed in the air as two figures emerged through a cluster of clouds behind them. With a stream of electrified black smoke behind both of them, Rainbow Dash’s excitement returned to her in a flash knowing who it was.

Both of the pegasi in the same uniform Austin saw before zoomed in closely towards them. They whizzed overhead showing off several quick loop da loops with much precision and synchronization. Rainbow Dash’s expression showed the equivalent to a little filly in a candy store as she watched her two favourite idols soaring about. Austin stood quietly, fascinated as he could see the beauty of flying from their dignified display. “Wow, they sure do know how to fly, just like…” he stopped in mid thought examining the two Wonderbolts above them.

It was obvious that Spitfire was one of them as Austin could see her fiery mane flowing profusely. She landed a distance behind the cloud home along with her companion beside her. “Hey Dash, Austin, how’s it going?” Spitfire called to them.

Rainbow Dash wasted no time zooming to their position proudly. “Amazing with you two around!” she replied while waiting for Austin.

He watched the two Wonderbolt members lift their flight goggles and he got a closer look at the pegasus beside Spitfire. Upon seeing the grinning light cyan pegasus beside her, Austin assumed it was Soarin, the other Wonderbolt she mentioned before. He had a coat colour similar to Rainbow Dash’s, a shadowy blue mane and long tail in a style that would prove to possibly be attractive to many mares.

Soarin gave Austin an odd impression of feeling small as his own mane and tail weren’t half as impressive looking as his. “I presume your Soarin, correct?” he asked standing in front of them as he started to look serious.

“Like a pegasi would fly while eating some pie!” Soarin joked with a silly grin. Spitfire couldn’t help but facehoof followed by a groan of disbelief.

Rainbow Dash laughed while Austin could only collect the three rhymes and snickered. “Quaint...” he thought.

“Well then, it’s really nice to meet you Soarin, and nice to see you again Spitfire.” Austin started as he carefully gathered his thoughts. “If what Rainbow Dash says is true, then it’s an honor to remem- I mean train with the Wonderbolts in a crash course flying lesson.”

Spitfire nodded and was a little curious why he got cut-off in the middle of his sentence, but decided to ignore it for now. Soarin paid no heed while Rainbow Dash was excited as ever rarely able to form words. Austin started to think he should be careful what he says even if something peculiar comes up in an instance. “I need to be more casual so they won’t get suspicious of me, ugh…I don’t know.”

Without further time to waste, Spitfire spoke up, “Alright shall we get started? I wanted to ask first if your wings are healed.”

Austin checked back behind him as he let his green frilly wings stretch out above carefully and felt no further irritation from them. The bruises were gone to his surprise, and he then turned back to Spitfire, raising a hoof. “I think they’re good to go Spitfire!”

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash suddenly flew up from the approval. She stared down at them eager to start, “Common, let’s go, we got a whole lot of awesome flying to do!”

Soarin stood by patiently while Spitfire pondered over the first lesson to bestow. “Ok, see if you can float above ground for starters.” she said.

Austin nodded slowly as he suddenly felt nervous unsure if he could really remember how to fly again. He started to flap his wings profusely up and down while he closed his eyes, delving into his subconscious. “How…will it feel?” he asked himself, realizing now wasn’t the time to think.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw he were several feet off the ground while feeling the air under his wings vigorously from the effort. He could hardly believe it as mixtures of feelings rushed in, “Whoa!”

“Good! Now settle back down for a second.” Spitfire told Austin.

Without hesitation, Austin slowly settled back down, still stuck in the loop of being in the air once again. He stood there silently while Rainbow Dash zipped to a nearby cloud standing proudly on it to witness his progress. “Aww yeah, you’re gonna be off the ground in twenty seconds flat!” she called.

“Ok, now Soarin will demonstrate a great way of applying enough muscle to really get you off the ground.” She started placing a hoof on his shoulder. “It felt inspiring when I started doing the same to improve my own flying skills to become who I am today. Take it away buddy.” she announced letting Soarin step towards him spreading his own wings.

Rainbow Dash’s interests piqued as she never heard of this before, but continued to watch where this was going. Usually she would always seem fascinated and stoked to just watch the Wonderbolts fly, but never considered why, or even how they do it. It may seem there’s more to the Wonderbolts than just raw skill.

“Ok, the trick here dude, is you have to first imagine yourself on top of a veeeeeeeeeery high place.” Soarin started explaining as he crouched himself a little. “Even if you aren’t exactly there, just imagine yourself above a tall cloud, a high building, or even in a frozen mountaintop why the hay not.”

Austin gasped lightly as he heard the last words, as he knew full well what that meant to him. The pupils in his eyes grew bigger in anticipation, as well as a mixture of other feelings imbued upon remembering images of tall cold mountains that snowed relentlessly. The familiarity of such places brought back some distorted memories he would wish to relate to later. Some senses of nostalgia took him as all other words were silenced and his wings stiffened.

Soarin went on mentioning a couple irrelevant details as he then jumped high into the air, soaring fast towards a small cloud. He showed off a few twists and spins with precision before landing on it softly and turned back to stare proudly at the three below. “And it’s as simple as that!” he hollered.

“Wow that’s an awesome way to think before I start flying, for the speed, the wind across my mane that I liked…a lot!” Rainbow Dash mused taking mental notes.

Spitfire put a hoof over her flight goggles to confirm Soarins’ signal from above, “That Soarin…and with that let’s see yo- huh?!” and just then when Spitfire turned back to Austin soon noticing something was unusual.

The ground started to give off some dust from a few long flaps of Austin’s wings that had determined power within them. There were noticeable sounds of him breathing deeply as the air seemed denser around him while his eyes were mostly closed like in an unexplainable trance. He stood up on his hind legs and stretched his front hooves side by side as if ready to jump off or in this case upward when the time was right.

Rainbow Dash stood up roughly confused of the unexpected scene, “Hey what gives?” she wondered. Spitfire kept silent as she stepped back a little having a small hunch.

Then suddenly as soon as Austin’s wings and hooves both pushed the opposing forces of the ground, he launched himself intensely causing a crushing sonic boom. The force of the boom sent Spitfire aback in surprise and Rainbow Dash was tossed from her cloud. From the instantaneous acceleration Austin pulled out of nowhere, even Dash’s cloud home was pushed a fair distance in one direction. She never anticipated this in any rate from a flyer she thought honestly was weak. “Whoa did he just seriously just do that?!” Dash gasped witnessing Austin pass by Soarin’s altitude.

Rainbow Dash decided to zoom up there followed by Spitfire to get a closer look at Austin who soared through the air faster and higher than the others. He was slowly spinning in a calm fashion with outstretched hooves up front, feeling the chilled air rush across his coat and wing tips. The feeling was exhilarating above the clouds at super speeds he felt so familiar with before.

Coming back to his senses as Austin’s eyes opened up, he slowed down to witness he was hovering quite a distance off the ground, seeing a bird’s eye view of Ponyville. The view was almost breathtaking seeing the small town from such a perspective as well as the vastness of the world he got himself into. There were forests that spanned as far as the eyes can see, and other mountainous regions he could only get a glimpse of. He looked to the other side he noticed a castle far off in the distance on the side of another mountain. This only meant that he was currently in some sort of kingdom, for ponies of strength, flying, and magic. The question of why he found himself in Equestria like this felt more confusing than ever, but adored he was able to see it all in a perspective he longed for.

The flapping of his wings felt no further signs of struggle and felt like they were meant for this kind of flying. Even as a pegasus for his physique, it was the first time he felt this kind of thrill to fly high and fast once again, leaving another feeling of nostalgia within his mind.

“So that’s how it feels huh…” he whispered as he took another look at his wings onto his hooves.

The ground seemed non-existent as Austin saw how far he was above, noticing some small clouds near him to try to see if he can land on one. He slowly floated onto one successfully, feeling the soft, bouncy cloud under his hooves. It became clear that this is part of what it means to be a pegasus; a citizen of the sky, but he was no citizen, nor was even sure what he was anymore.

“Hey Austin!” someone called as Austin’s ears perked to turn himself around figuring out who it was. Rainbow Dash, Spitfire and Soarin zoomed right up to his position landing on separate clouds while Dash was floating over them.

“Well, that saves us plenty of steps…” Spitfire bleakly said unsure what to think of this development.

Austin dipped his head in response, “I’m sorry…It’s the first time I was able to truly get a feel of what being a pegasus really feels like.”

The other three pegasi then stared at one another wondering why Austin would say such a thing. “Are you kidding?! That was awesome! I never saw anyone start off flight with that amount of speed before! We should race sometime!” Rainbow said almost impressed that another pegasus might have a chance to keep up with her.

Dash highly regarded her own speed personally, but she saw Austin had potential from the first few seconds of true flight. Austin blushed as they took into account that they were starting to take interest even more away from their underestimations. “Honest, I don’t know what came over me…” he responded although he knew deep inside of him, he was telling half the truth.

Soarin rubbed his head with a hoof confused yet was surprised thinking his words got through to Austin more than he expected. “Wow, I guess that might have been quite the inspiration dude. We should see you do more!”

“Yes, I’m not sure why I haven’t met you before! Umm did we?” Rainbow asked as her thoughts raced with curious questions.

“No Dash…” Austin replied with a sigh looking down from the cloud seeing the ground so far away. “And how come it feels strange when I see you Rainbow…” he wondered.

“A-anyways,” Spitfire cut in trying to lighten the conversation, “Let’s see you fly around with Rainbow Dash while we follow and we’ll go from there.” she said unsure how to respond to that unexpected display. She was pondering some things in her mind as she wanted to observe further.

It was then that Rainbow Dash prodding a hoof on one of Austin’s stiff wings, “So how about it, why not Race me around the skies so the Wonderbolts witness our awesomeness!” she grinned excitedly.

Austin stared into Dash’s eyes for a moment, only to find feelings he couldn’t explain since morning. He didn’t mind some competition, but he was unsure if she truly considered him a friend or just someone to increase her popularity. Neither reason mattered as he wanted answers on what he was going to do in Equestria now that he was here. Remembering to fly was the first step and it would help give him the time he needed to ponder on some things deep within him.

Austin then nodded saying, “Oh it’s on!” and with a soft smile before he decided to jump off the cloud straight down hard to gather momentum.

Rainbow Dash followed behind in a flash to catch up with Austin. She flapped her wings hard zooming towards his decent. Austin closed his eyes again and waited while air rushed by his face giving him a hard time to see clearly. He wouldn’t of minded a pair of flight goggles right about now but he didn’t want to for now. “They don’t call me Rainbow, and Dash, for nothin!” Dash called as she accelerated faster, closing in fast to his position. The air around her slowly started to form a cone about to perform a trick of her own.

The ground was much closer and Austin felt Rainbow’s presence close by as he waited for the right moment again. Then with a burst of strength, he flapped his own wings down hard as he pulled up at a sharp angle, producing another sonic boom causing him to suddenly accelerate much faster. The small shockwave of the boom sent Rainbow Dash aback to a sudden stop. “Yikes! Ugh I’ll need to get used to when he does that.” Dash stressed before rushing back upward behind Austin.

The Wonderbolts then decided to follow from a distance examining both their techniques. So far so good they thought while they blazed behind them. They occasionally called to Austin saying to keep their bodies aerodynamic and head straight. Spitfire and Soarin were also fascinated once again from the display Austin performed. “Wow, he even denied Rainbow Dash of her signature move that would ensure her victory.” Soarin proclaimed.

Spitfire was rather skeptic the further they followed the two, noticing Austin had no cutie mark. It made little sense of how a heroic pegasus with plenty of possible flying potential not have one. As cool as Spitfire would normally act as a Wonderbolt, she did have an inquisitive side to her that she could hardly believe she didn’t notice before at the party. She refused in her mind to be nosy for now and observe further.

High up in the skies near some mountaintops, Austin opened his eyes once again to find he was successfully flying without further problems and he noticed Rainbow Dash behind. He saw the determination and a certain joy in her eyes to be racing alongside him. In addition, he also noticed her rainbow mane and tail streaming in the air and it made her look quite adorable in his opinion. Lastly, he wasn’t sure what words to say to her at all since Dash was only calling out how awesome this felt.

Austin faced the front as he zoomed around some of the small mountains with Rainbow Dash while observing their steep rocky terrain. He was disappointed they had no snow on them, thinking back to when he thought he saw a snowflake before sleeping last night. Soaring through doing some instinctive twists in flight, the thinner air from such height made him breathe heavier trying to relax.

After that, they made it out of the small cluster of mountains near Rainbow’s cloud home; back to the vast field bellow them. Austin closed his eyes again as he started to think about Rainbow and her friends. To him, they seemed like quite an interesting bunch of ponies, but they all seemed so different not just by appearance. Despite of this, he started to feel grateful for their current hospitality and wanted to repay each of them somehow. “Hmm, Rainbow Dash, what makes you and your friends so Special?...” he began to wonder. “Even during my short time in Equestria, I feel that there’s something about each of them that piques my curiosity. I suppose for a next step I won’t impose any longer and maybe visit each of them, not to only offer possible assistance, but I can’t help but some part of my memories resonates with them through what they shown me so far. Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle huh…what a colourful bunch. I also hope I could see Spitfire again after today, but odd she hasn’t said anything…weird. And lastly, Rainbow Dash…Dash, why does your presence make my heart race, not just in speed but in spirit.”

Before Austin could think further, he passed through a cluster of clouds near another tall mountain by Rainbow Dash’s home. He was a fair distance from the others, and as he blindly punctured a hole through the clouds, his coat then had a cold and wet sensation. Not only that, his body suddenly stopped as he hit something more solid than the cloud. Still flapping his wings, he felt a bit dizzy he heard a loud bird-like call like an eagle of some sort.

Just before Austin could see where the noise came from, his face felt a sharp, painful feeling. It was as if he was clawed from where he floated. The second the claw strike impacted, he barely saw a particular griffon-like creature. However suddenly at the same time, the image of the griffon turned into a very dark place, with a shadowing figure that had the same crimson eyes as those of Austin’s previous nightmare. The flash image burned into his mind as he heard a familiar voice scream out his name before his senses felt more than just physical pain.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!” Austin shrilled as he spun out of control onto the nearby cloud’s surface.

The pain Austin was experiencing was excruciating, not just by the scratch, but his head felt like it was set on fire trying to eat his brain out from the horrific image. “Watch where you’re going loser!” shouted the young griffon character that sounded like a brat.

Austin laid there covering most of his eyes with his hooves and a few drops of his blood were spilt. They seeped through the hole in the cloud he exited from, and Rainbow Dash not far behind witnessed this and gasped in shock, then growled with anger knowing who Austin flew into by accident. “Gilda!!!” she yelled as if she couldn’t handle seeing her new friend who got assaulted.

Rainbow Dash zoomed leaving a long rainbow blur behind her as she passed Austin. She then rammed into Gilda, punching her in the face hard once sending her tumbling on the large cloud. Dash landed in front of Austin standing firm, wings stiffened, and pointed a hoof furiously towards the griffon over what transpired. “What are you doing here!? What the hay is wrong with you Gilda?! You should know better than to leave my friends alone!”

Ugh! I could ask the same questions Rainbow Crash!” Gilda responded as she composed herself, wobbling still from Dash’s punch as it left a large bruise near one of her eyes.

Both Spitfire and Soarin flew up through the cloud behind Austin and landed to aid him. Soarin kept him steady while Spitfire tried to take a look at the damage. The scratch was large enough to spill minimal blood from the wound near one of his eyes, but due to his screaming, there had to have been more to it. She moved one of Austin’s hooves and gasped noticing something unusual, “What in Celestia’s name?...” she wondered.

Austin’s pupils in his crimson eyes were thinned out and acted like he was not in full control of himself. Staring at Rainbow Dash as she was now, and Gilda kept on bringing flashes of vague images projecting from his mind unable to make any sense from it, as it all rooted back to a monstrous scene from his nightmare. Spitfire could see the pupils of his eyes jiggled slightly in place and the iris moved around. His body was shaking and his heart raced again, unable to fathom how he was feeling so much pain small drops of blood still streamed on his face slightly. An emotion of true fear was taking Austin, and Spitfire observed this before facing towards Rainbow Dash and Gilda.

“I was having an awesome time with my new friend and the Wonderbolts until you decided to cross the line over an accident! Not cool!” Dash stressed looking crossed at Gilda.

The griffon scoffed, fluttering up near Dash pointing a claw at her. “Look, first of all Rainbow Crash, I was minding my own business flying back home until this loser flew into me. Second, ever since you made a fool out of me with your pranks at the one party a while back, I’ve been beginning to despise you more and more. Lastly, even if we’re old friends, now I feel ashamed to have known someone as Pathetic as you.”

Rainbow Dash snorted kneeling down as if ready to pounce on Gilda again. “What did you say?!” she yelled. The uproar from Austin’s painful cries was what drove Dash to act more extreme than usual.

Austin was breathing heavily as he tried to calm down out of the mysterious state he was in. His body shivered as he was soaked by the cold water, but also quivering in fear from the images that flashed from his mind. The pain also came back at times from some of the words spoken from both Rainbow Dash and Gilda, sending his thoughts into a tailspin.

Gilda scoffed some more simply unwilling to look Rainbow Dash in the eyes. “Hmph, I heard all about your arrogance that almost ended of your life, and all it took was this sorry idiot with a blank flank to save your sorry hide. Honestly, how much more uncool could you be Rainbow Crash?”

“Oh that’s it! You haven’t changed at all Gilda, ever since you gave Pinkie Pie trouble, and now this! Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have you leave with more than just a few feathers torn off you?!” Rainbow Dash snorted again. As embarrassing Gilda’s words hit her ears, she couldn’t help but defend herself and Austin’s honor no matter what.

“As much as that is a really harsh thing to say, let’s not overdo it Rainbow Dash.” Soarin stated as he kept Austin steady.

Rainbow Dash sighed feeling reluctant of letting Gilda go, but she didn’t want to make a bad impression towards the Wonderbolts any further. Dash stood her ground in front of Austin staring into the eyes of the bratty griffon. “Fine…Just leave Gilda, before I change my mind. But I’m warning you, if I ever catch you near Austin again, in the name of Celestia, you won’t be able to fly for a week!”

Gilda grunted as she started to fly off rudely. “Tch, typical Rainbow, always believing in your so called friends and defending them as usual…It's going to get you hurt someday.” She stated gruffly before zooming out of sight towards the southeast of Ponyville.

When Gilda was gone, Rainbow Dash took deep breaths before she turned towards the others, seeing Austin distressed. The concern in her eyes weighed heavily as she almost never saw somepony get hurt like that. She calmed down mostly while placing a hoof on his forehead softly, “Are you alright Austin?” she asked.

Upon hearing Rainbow Dash’s voice, Austin started to come back to his senses as his eyes turned back to normal, to meet her eyes. His vision cleared as he looked into Dash’s face. It was a face that felt most welcoming and pleasant as it showed care and concern behind it.

Austin halted all other thoughts for the time being, he slowly got up on his hooves. Soarin and Spitfire helped as he took deep breaths for a moment. He slowly wiped his face from the bloodstain on it and his entire coat felt a bit soggy from the cloud's water. “I’ll be fine…Thanks Rainbow Dash, I…I don’t know what happened there, but I’m sorry since I heard Gilda was an old friend of yours.”

“Oh, don’t sweat it, Gilda proved to be officially uncool by doing that to you.” Dash said with most of her composure back. “I never leave my friends hanging, and that includes you too.” she continued with some bravado in her voice.

“Th-thanks. I really appreciate it Rainbow Dash…” Austin blushed as a loose feeling of uncertain nostalgia returned. “Who was she anyway?” he asked randomly from curiosity.

“It’s a long story, but best let it go after what just happened. Ugh I still can’t believe it.” Rainbow Dash stressed.

“Agreed…” Austin answered facing down the hole in the cloud.

“Well I’m glad that’s over with.” Soarin added while adjusting his flight goggles.

Austin was at a loss at the moment from the painful experience he just had. His mind completely felt like a train wreck at this point, and he felt like he needed quite some time to put all of this together. Staring at Rainbow Dash herself filled him with so much unexplainable feelings as flying with somepony like her concluded this notion.

Thoughts from before about Dash’s friends returned and Austin desired to move on, and let some additional flying calm his nerves down. “Anyways, after some more flying, I was thinking of visiting some of your friends around Ponyville if it’s alright with you?” Austin asked.

“Sure! My friends are awesome, that would be a great idea, but after we spend some quality time with the Wonderbolts first.” Dash said as excitement grew in her voice again.

“Alright, you ok with this Spitfire?” Austin asked noticing her with her eyes closed.

“Oh! Umm yes, we should continue on with the flight lesson, I’m sure we can spend a bit more time with you two.” Spitfire responded barely.

Austin nodded, “Ok then, I’ll go on ahead.” he replied. After that, Austin launched himself off of the cloud downward back towards the vast field.

“Right behind you! Or ahead of you!” Rainbow Dash added determined to race Austin again.

However, before Rainbow could take off, she was interrupted by Spitfire immediately, “Wait Rainbow, I want to ask you something.”

“Huh? Well…ok. Did you want a request for any awesome moves for either of us to perform?” Rainbow asked with a grin.

“No Dash, this is different. It’s about Austin.” Spitfire replied with a serious look on her face. Something about that look sent a chill up Dash’s spine as it was very unsettling.

As the feeling of free air rushing by Austin’s body returned him to some of the lingering thoughts from within. He only wished now to find out where all of this was going as future events unfold while he wanted to visit each of Rainbow Dash’s friends. A feeling of depression took him from the ordeal that came from one memory of the nightmare. It sticks in his mind, making Austin feel like he was scared of his own shadow.

“Maybe these ponies will help me see something clearer…and maybe answer why I have these feelings for Rainbow Dash. Se….no, I hope to never see you again for what you done to...to her.” Austin thought on before letting the calming freedom of flight take hold once again.

Rainbow Dash back up at the clouds wondered what Spitfire was even thinking. “Listen Dash, we’ve both never seen a pegasus without a cutie mark like that before am I right?” she began.

“Well…now that you mention it, I more or less didn’t give it much thought nor cared since he did save me. Why? You don’t trust him?!” Dash said giving Spitfire a sore scowl.

“No, because while you were upset at Gilda, I noticed something unusual in his eyes that reminds me of something similar I experience before I became a Wonderbolt.” Spitfire continued speaking with speculation.

“Really…” Dash’s interest piqued, but not in a good way. “And what is that exactly?”

Spitfire took a deep breath, “Fear Rainbow Dash, I saw true fear in his eyes.” She finally answered, as silence followed to the three concerned pegasi.